Projectile catching and throwing device



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June 14, 1955 J. c. LocKwooD 2,710,753

PROJECTILE CATCHING ANDl THROWING DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1955 l INVENTOR.

@/JACK C. Loc/fwooo Lua Q 35 TTORNE Y knal United States Patent O PROJECTILE CATCHING AND THROWING DEVICE Jack C. Lockwood, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application January 26, 1953, Serial No. 333,126

2 Claims. (Cl. 273-96) This invention relates generally to game apparatus and more particularly to a racquet game device adapted to be manipulated in the hand of a player in the playing of various ball games.

An object of this invention is to provide a racquet game device which is structurally characterized to enable if' a player to propel, catch and hold a ball during the playing of various games; and which eectively nullifles or absorbs the rebound of a caught ball so as to retain the ball between two wedge-forming traction surfaces dened by yieldable grids of substantially parallel exible bars or cords on which the ball is caught and by which a rolling motion rather than a sliding and/or skidding movement is imparted to the ball when projected from the device, all so as to promote an accurate flight of the ball.

Another object of this invention is to provide a racquet game device of the above described character having a spout-like nose piece which may be utilized as a forward sight to facilitate aiming of the device when endeavoring to project a ball to a definite target.

A further object of this invention is to provide a racquet game device which is capable of being easily handled with a minimum degree of skill so as to enable its use by inexperienced players; which is adaptable to many forms of games using a soft ball or other game piece; and which is comparatively inexpensive so as to promote its use by the maximum number of persons in the playing of many games affording enjoyment and light exercise to the players.

With these and other objects in View, this invention resides in the combinations, arrangements and functional relationships of elements as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a view showing in plan, one form of racquet game device embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a view showing the racquet game device in side elevation;

Figure 3 is a view showing the racquet game device in front elevation; and

Figure 4 is a schematic, transverse sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure l.

Referring specically to the drawings, this invention in its illustrated embodiment comprises a handle and a body portion 11 in the form of a skeletal frame, the latter being composed of supporting members in the form of round rods 12 and 13 of wood or other material (Figures 3 and 4) secured at one end to an end of the handle 10 and diverging symmetrically therefrom at an acute angle as shown in plan in Figure l, with both rods disposed at the same large obtuse angle to the handle as shown in side view in Figure 2.

The free outer end portions of the rods 12 and 13 are received in sleeves 14 and 15 formed on the outer ends of right and left top `frame members 16 and 17 of sheet fibre or other suitable flexible material which ice extend partly around the rods along the length thereof. The inner ends of the members 16 and 17 are rigidly secured to the handle 10 by fastening members such as nails 18.

The members 16 and 17 are provided at their inner 'or confronting sides with generally triangular, flexible ilaps or Wings 19 and 20, respectively, which are spaced from each other and are flexibly connected by a length of cord 21 which is laced back and forth through openings 22 and 23 in the respective members and tied at 24 for co-action with the aps in forming one side of a ball-receiving pocket 25.

The forward ends of the sleeves 14 and 15 are received in sleeves and 31 formed on the ends of a generally V-shaped mouth frame member 32 also con structed of bre or other suitable flexible material. The sleeves 14, 15 and 30, 31 are rigidly secured to the rods 12 and 13 by fastening members such as nails 33. At the apex of the member 32 is formed a spout-like nose piece .34 constituting a forward sight to facilitate aiming the device when projecting the ball at a target, the surface of the nose piece being roughened at 34a for traction for the ball across the member 32 when the ball is being projected.

A flexible center frame 35 of bre or other suitable material is compos-ed of a center rib 36 (Figure 4) which is curved longitudinally and is interposed between similarly curved right and left side frame members 37 and 38 secured to the rib 36 by rivets 39 concealed by a U-shaped cover strip 40 of cloth tape which is secured to the members 37 and 38 by a suitable adhesive.

At their forward ends the side members 37 and 38 are rigidly secured to the mouth frame member 32 at opposite sides of the apex of the latter, by rivets 41 and 42, whereas at their flared rear end portions the members 37 and 38 are secured to lateral extensions 44 of the top frame members 16 and 17 by rivets 46. The extensions 44 coact with the ared rear end portions of the members 37 and 38 to form the remaining sides of the ball-receiving pocket 25.

Along their lengths the side frame members 37 Vand 38 are provided with resilient attaching ears or tabs 55 and 56, respectively, with the ears of the member'37 being staggered relative to those of the member 38 in a direction longitudinally of the members, as shown in Figure l. The ears and 56 normally curve laterally away from each other as shown in Figure 4 and are provided with cord-receiving openings 57, whereas the tcp frame members 16 and 17 are provided with a row of cord-receiving openings 58 correspondingin number to the openings 57.

The cords 60 and 61 which may be composed of strands or of solid material such as plastic, are anchored at one end at 62 and 63, respectively, to the mouth frame member 32 at opposite sides of the apex of the latter. The cords are then laced through the openings 58 and 57 of the top and side frame members 16, 17 and 37, 38, respectively, to form a yieldable ball-receiving and traction or holding surface of generally V-shaped contour decreasing in transverse section from the flaring mouth formed by the frame member 32 to the constricted throat at the pocket 25.

It will be noted that the cord 60 extends in substantially parallel stretches from the right top frame member 16 to the ears 56 of the left side frame member 38, and

that the cord 61 extends in similar stretches from the left top frame member 17 to the ears 55 of the right side frame member 37, all as shown in Figures l and 4. Thus, these stretches of the two cords 60 and 61 cross each other at the center frame 35, for a purpose to be later fully described.

At their other ends the cords 60 and 61 are laced through openings 65 in the extensions 44 of the top frame members 16' and 17 so as t0 extend across the rear end of the pocket 25 in spaced parallel stretches 66, and are then tied together at 67, all so that the stretches 66 form a yieldable back stop to cushion the impact of a ball entering the pocket 25.

VThe operation of the invention is as follows:

Soft balls of various diameters may be accurately proiected from the device, as a ball will be accurately centered and guided in a straight path across the traction and holding flexible grid-like stretches of the cords 6@ and 61 with which the ball will have rolling contact as it is propelled from the device by a snapping or whip-like forearm, wrist and hand movement of the player. It will be appreciated that due to the inertia of the ball, it will be pressed rrnly against the grid-forming cords 6G and 61 when a propelling operation is started by movement of the device, so that the cords are exed to engage the periphery of the ball with suicient security to insure a rolling movement of the ball in a rectilinear path rather than a sliding and/ or skidding movement in an erratic path, all so as to promote accurate projection of the ball. Furthermore, this accurate rolling movement of the ball is continued across the roughened surface 34a of the nose piece 34, which latter may be utilized as a forward 1.

sight for accurately aiming the ball at a target.

When a ball is caught, the impact of the ball is completely absorbed by exing of the grid-forming cords 60 and 61 and flexing of the resilient ears 55 and 56 as shown by the broken line positions thereof in Figure 4, thus eifectively preventing rebounding movement of the ball and facilitating continued movement of the ball into the pocket 25 wherein its final movement is checked and the ball brought smoothly to rest by the stretches 66 of the cords which form the yieldable backstop in the pocket.

Furthermore, the initial impact of a very hard driven ball against the cords 60 and 61 will not only flex same and the ears 55 and 56, but will also cause a slight bending of the rods 12 and 13, the center frame 35 and the mouth frame member 32 so as to further aid in absorbing the kinetic energy of the ball.

By means of the V-shaped mouth frame member 32, a ball may be easily scooped up from the ground surface either to the right, in front, or to the left of the player by tilting the device laterally to dispose one flat side or the other of the member 32 in contact with the ground.

It is to be understood that the term cord for the elements 6i) and 61 as used in the specification and claims,

is to be broadly construed as any exible form of memml frame including right and left top frame members secured at one end to the handle and diverging therefrom at an acute angle; a longitudinally curved center frame member connected at one end to the handle; a generally V-shaped mouth frame member connected at its apex to said center frame member and at its ends to the other end of said top frame members; exible traction and rebound-absorbing grids connecting said center frame member and the respective top frame members for coaction therewith in defining a ball runway generally V- shaped in cross section and having a permanently open flaring mouth at said mouth frame member for the free and unrestricted passage of a ball into and out of the runway; said mouth frame member diverging in plan from said apex and in a direction rearwardly of said runway to the respective right and left top frame members to form a pointed forward end for the runway and to deline angularly related right and left flat shovel-like scoops by which a ground-traveling ball approaching the player within a large angular range, may be scooped up without lost motion by the player by laterally tilting the device about the longitudinal axis of the runway to one side or the other and sweeping one or the other of said scoops flatwise across the ground surface with a cross arm movement to meet the ball according as the ball is approaching from one side or the other of the player.

2. A racquet game device comprising: a handle having means at one end thereof defining an elongated ball runway of generally V-shaped cross section flaring from said handle end to a permanently open mouth for the free and unrestricted passage of a ball into and out of the runway; and a mouth frame member bordering said mouth of the ball runway and diverging in plan from an apex to form a pointed end for the runway and to define angularly related right and left flat shovel-like scoops projecting outwardly and rearwardly in opposite directions from said apex towards said handle end, by which a ground-traveling ball approaching the player within a large angular range may be scooped up without lost motion by the player by laterally tilting the device about the longitudinal axis of said runway and sweeping one or the other of said scoops atwise across the ground g surface with a cross arm movement to meet the ball References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 753,946 Wharton Mar. 8, 1904 1,542,177 Rose June 16, 1925 2,039,138 Auer Apr. 28, 1936 

